A Tale of Two Cities (Revelation 17:1-7; 16-17)

Devotional

Day 1: Building Towers to Reach Heaven’s Shadow

Humanity’s oldest rebellion isn’t just defiance—it’s architectural. Like ancient engineers stacking bricks toward the divine, we still craft monuments to our own significance. The Tower of Babel reveals our addiction to self-made altars, whether skyscrapers or social media platforms, where we worship productivity and influence. Babylon’s blueprint persists wherever creation is deified and the Creator dismissed. True peace isn’t found in what we construct but in the foundation laid outside Jerusalem’s walls. [09:07]

“Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”
(Genesis 11:4, ESV)

Reflection: What “tower” have you been building to secure your legacy or significance? How might surrendering that project to Christ reframe your purpose?

Day 2: When Political Power Marries Religious Zeal

Nimrod didn’t just rule nations—he weaponized belief. His empire fused governance and idolatry, creating a loyalty deeper than flags or constitutions. This unholy union still thrives where ideologies demand sacred devotion, whether in state-enforced creeds or cultural dogmas masquerading as progress. Babylon’s shadow lengthens wherever humans exchange divine truth for collective applause. Yet Jerusalem’s King needs no statues; His throne is a cross. [10:34]

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
(Matthew 6:24, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you seen political or cultural movements demand “religious” allegiance? How does Christ’s lordship free you from idolizing earthly systems?

Day 3: Counterfeit Messiahs and the Tears of False Hope

Samaramus wept 40 days for Tamuz, mirroring creation’s groaning for redemption. Her tears birthed a lie that still drips through history—that salvation comes through human effort or cosmic karma. Every false savior, from zodiac signs to self-help messiahs, parodies the true Seed who crushed the serpent. Lenten ashes without resurrection power are just dust. [19:10]

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
(Romans 6:23, ESV)

Reflection: What counterfeit “resurrection stories” (prosperity, karma, astrology) have subtly shaped your hopes? How does Easter’s empty tomb expose their emptiness?

Day 4: Scattering Seeds of Rebellion, Reaping Confusion

Babel’s curse became grace. When God fractured languages, He disrupted humanity’s suicidal unity in rebellion. Our modern divisions—ethnic, ideological, relational—often trace back to Eden’s fracture. Yet Pentecost’s flames would later reverse Babel, not by erasing differences but by uniting them in worship. Jerusalem’s peace isn’t uniformity but harmony. [25:25]

“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
(Acts 2:4, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you seen division become an unexpected gift to prevent collective sin? How might the Spirit use your unique voice to unite others in Christ?

Day 5: Winter’s Chill and the Unchanging Promise

God hung earth’s balance on a vow—seedtime and harvest, cold and heat—not on human virtue. While activists panic over climate apocalypses, believers plant in hope. The same hand that scattered Babel’s builders sustains Jupiter’s orbit and Carolina’s pollen count. Seasons remind us: creation’s rhythm outlasts empires. [06:45]

“While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
(Genesis 8:22, ESV)

Reflection: What anxieties about earth’s future does Genesis 8:22 confront in you? How does stewardship differ from panic in your daily choices?

Sermon Summary

Jerusalem appears throughout Scripture as the place where God plants peace. Its very name means foundation of peace, and the cross outside its walls becomes the ground where peace with God is made, just as Paul says, “having made peace through the blood of His cross.” Yet Jerusalem does not look peaceful now because the King has not yet taken His throne there; Revelation promises He will. Alongside Jerusalem stands another city that threads through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, a rival city that gathers the purposes of man against the purposes of God. Babylon represents that human project.

Genesis sets the stage. God blesses Noah’s family, commands them to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and then promises the ongoing rhythms of creation. “Seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease.” The text refuses panic and insists that God keeps the world’s systems on schedule until He brings the old world to an end and crafts the new.

Nimrod, Noah’s great-grandson, rises as the first tyrant to organize a coalition against that command. He builds a city, Babylon, and a tower that voices defiance: “Let us make for ourselves a name… lest we be scattered.” Political unity alone cannot hold such a revolt, so the project weds politics to religion. Nimrod is soon deified as Marduk, and the empire’s zeal pours into idols that cost a fortune and demand loyalties that run to the bone.

The tower’s top is not an attempt to penetrate God’s throne; the Hebrew points to a top “with heaven” - a sanctuary aligned to the heavens. Babel becomes a shrine to the universe. The zodiac is carved into its sacred room, and the worship of creation races from Babylon to Egypt and beyond. Astrology, horoscopes, and the impulse to treat “the universe” as a giver of destiny are simply Babylon’s first religion in modern clothes.

The mysteries deepen. Semiramis fashions a mother-and-child myth that counterfeits Genesis 3:15, promising a virgin-born son, a death, forty days of mourning, and a resurrection. Names change as the story spreads - Astarte and Baal, Isis and Osiris, Aphrodite and Eros, Ishtar and Tammuz - but the script remains. The counterfeit wraps itself in pieces of truth while licensing sin, even sanctifying prostitution in the name of worship. Israel repeatedly falls for it, weeping for Tammuz and honoring the queen of heaven, until the Lord exposes Baal and brings judgment.

At Babel the Lord answers proud unity by confusing tongues, forcing the very scattering His mandate required. History keeps moving toward Babylon’s final fall and Jerusalem’s final peace, when the true King rules and the counterfeit finally collapses.

Key Takeaways

1. Jerusalem anchors God’s peace Jerusalem carries the name foundation of peace because God chose it as the place where peace with Him would be secured at the cross. The blood of Christ outside that city settles God’s wrath and reconciles estranged sinners. The city does not yet display that peace because the King has not yet enthroned Himself there, but Revelation promises He will. Hope rests not in the city’s present condition but in the crucified and risen King who will reign. [02:48]
2. Babylon embodies organized rebellion Babylon gathers humanity’s resolve to make a name, resist scattering, and build without God. Its power hardens when politics weds religion, because people will die for a sacred cause that flatters pride. Idolatry then scales, demanding gold and blood, and offering a unifying story that enthrones man while dethroning God. That pattern keeps reappearing until its final iteration is judged. [10:34]
3. The tower sanctifies the heavens Babel’s tower does not climb into God’s space so much as it dedicates a sanctuary “with heaven,” aligning worship to the sun, moon, and stars. From that room the zodiac and astrology flow, teaching people to read creation for meaning while ignoring the Creator who speaks. When creation is treated as a god, destiny shrinks to impersonal forces and superstition. True worship receives the heavens as handiwork, not as lord. [12:14]
4. Counterfeits echo gospel promises The Babylonian mysteries mimic Genesis 3:15 with a virgin-born son, a death, and a return, then recast the mother as the queen of heaven. Such imitations borrow gospel shapes while emptying them of grace and holiness, often blessing the very sins God forbids. Symbols can be redeemed only when Christ Himself remains the center and standard. Discernment learns to prize the kernel of truth while rejecting the husk of deception. [20:45]
5. The Lord scatters proud unity God answers the world’s first one-world project by confusing languages and compelling obedience to His global mandate. His judgment is mercy, restraining consolidated evil and sending image-bearers to fill the earth as He ordered. Every empire that repeats Babel’s boast will meet the same sovereign hand. The final scattering of Babylon and the final gathering in Jerusalem will vindicate His rule. [25:25]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[01:19] - Two cities across Scripture
[01:58] - Jerusalem - foundation of peace
[03:29] - Babylon’s prominence and end
[04:13] - Back to Genesis - the mandate
[05:53] - God’s promise of seasons
[07:33] - Nimrod’s defiance and federation
[09:07] - The tower and its aim
[10:34] - Politics fused with religion
[11:25] - Marduk and Babylonian zeal
[13:02] - Worship of the universe
[14:26] - Zodiac and star religion
[17:33] - Semiramis, Tammuz, and counterfeits
[23:51] - Sanctified sin and Israel’s slide
[25:25] - God scatters Babel

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Genesis 11:1-9 (ESV)
And the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

Observation Questions

What two motivations did the people of Babel have for building the city and tower? (Genesis 11:4)
How does the sermon describe Babylon’s strategy to unify people against God’s purposes? [10:34]
What promise does God make in Genesis 8:22, and how does it contrast with humanity’s actions at Babel?
According to the sermon, how did Babylonian religious practices spread to other cultures? [14:26]

Interpretation Questions

Why did God confuse the languages at Babel instead of allowing humanity to continue their unified project?
How does the counterfeit religion of Babylon (e.g., astrology, mother-child myths) mimic biblical truths while distorting them? [19:10]
The sermon states that political unity alone is “fickle,” but unity around religion is powerful. Why might religious causes inspire deeper loyalty than political ones? [10:34]
What does the scattering at Babel reveal about God’s mercy, even in judgment?

Application Questions

In what areas of life (e.g., career, relationships, culture) are you tempted to “make a name for yourself” rather than glorify God?
The sermon warns about modern forms of Babylonian thinking, like trusting horoscopes or “the universe” for guidance. How can you actively reject these counterfeits and fix your trust on Christ? [13:44]
The people of Babel feared being scattered. Are there ways you resist God’s call to step out of your comfort zone for His purposes? What might obedience look like?
The Babylonian system “sanctified sin” (e.g., temple prostitution). Where do you see culture today celebrating sin as virtuous? How can you discern and avoid compromising with these lies? [23:51]
Jerusalem’s peace is anchored in Christ’s future reign. How does this hope shape your perspective when facing personal or global chaos?
The sermon mentions symbols (like Easter eggs) can be redeemed when Christ is central. Are there cultural practices or traditions you engage in that need intentional “reclaiming” for God’s glory? [22:20]

Sermon Clips

Not many people that I know, in fact, I've never met anybody that would be willing to risk their life to be a Republican or a or a Democrat. There are no suicide bombers trying to rid the world of Republicans. At least not yet. But religion now is far different. Religion is far more powerful a unifier. When people unify around a religious cause, they are willing to give their lives to that cause and for that bond of unity with others who believe as they do. [00:10:05]

Just as there is a city which represents the plan and purposes of God, there is a city that represents the plan and purposes of man. Just as there is a city which is the capital of God's coming kingdom, there is a city that represents the kingdom of this world. Babylon. Now, in order to understand the significance of Babylon's rise and fall in the last book of the Bible, we need to go back to its origin in the first book of the Bible. [00:03:50]

"Come, let us build for ourselves a city and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name. Otherwise, we will be scattered abroad the face of the whole earth." In other words, let's defy God's command to multiply over the face of the earth. And instead, let's let's stay together. Let's let's build an empire and let's together defy God. [00:09:07]

The pagan systems of our world merely have another god who's capriccious in his actions and proud who cares little of humans. They merely create an anti-creator message and allow man ultimately to pursue his sin and be justified in it. In fact, it would be the development of Samaramis, the wife of Nimrod, who began the practice of religious prostitution, marrying sexual sin with religious practice. They called sin now sanctified. [00:23:19]

It would be correct to imply that this city, Jerusalem, is the place of God's peace. It's certainly the place where our peace with God was established, wasn't it? Paul would write to the Colossians. For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness of God to dwell in him that is Christ and through him to reconcile all things to himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross. [00:02:17]

Let's make le let's build a tower whose top will reach into heaven. And in my translation, will reach those words are italicized, which means they're added by the translators to make sense of this particular Hebrew preposition. And I think it actually clouds it some. They weren't trying to build a tower tall enough to reach heaven. They knew you couldn't do that. No, what this is saying is they were building a tower that would represent heaven. [00:12:14]

It's an alliance with heaven, the heavens, not the God of heaven, but the universe. In other words, they were building a tower dedicated to the worship of the universe. The first system of worship is worshiping the creation and not the creator. More and more in our own culture, thanks to best-selling books like The Secret, which we've talked about in media personalities who promote it, like Oprah Winfrey and others, you have in our generation a growing population of people who are committed to this proposition. [00:12:54]

Well, along comes the great grandson of Noah, the world's first tyrant, the first man, so to speak, to collectively with an empire shake their fist at God. He's going to build this one world federation of nations so to speak. But it's more than just political muscle. Uh it was deeply deeply religious. He would be the founder along with his wife Samaramus specially involved she was in creating a blasphemous idolatrous one world religion. [00:07:50]

While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not what? Shall not cease. In other words, for the remainder of earth's duration until God judges it and Christ creates a new heaven and new earth. Revelation chapter 21. Earth has been given the promise as it were that it will experience normal seasons of seed time and harvest which is going to need rain, the patterns of weather. [00:06:08]

He was a mighty hunter. We know he was actually a hunter of men, not of animals, but of men as he made a coalition of those who would defy God. This man would defy the command of God to Noah and his family following the flood. You see at verse one of chapter 9 where God is speaking. He blesses Noah and his sons and says to them be fruitful and multiply and then fill the earth. [00:04:44]

They divided the heavens into sections, gave meanings to each section based on the stars and constellations they observed. And a person's destiny in life was said to be determined by whatever section or sign he was born under. Well, at the top of this tower, this ziggurat, and there would be many that would be built over generations. Some have been discovered and excavated. It's interesting. At the very top, the top room would be their holy place where they would worship. [00:14:26]

And I think for every parent, by the way, here who has a child in school, especially in public school, you ought to show them verse 22 of Genesis chapter 8, that God has delivered a promise. We're not going to run out. We're not going to panic. God is in control of the resources of earth. And in this promise to Noah, God promises an ongoing basic balance of natural resources and weather patterns and even the cycles of seasons. [00:07:00]

Throughout scripture, Jerusalem is pictured as a special city, a special place in the plan and purpose of God. In fact, you could say it is the city of God. Uh the root word for the name of the city, Salem, you could pronounce shalom, makes up the latter part of the name, Jerus Shalom or Salem. Rather wouldn'tly translate, Jerusalem means foundation of peace. [00:01:50]

referring to the seed of a woman, implying in that proto evangelium, that first gospel that there would be a virgin son from a woman. Well, Satan early in human history knew exactly what that meant. And so in the very first religious and political rebellion, he sews the seeds of lies by wrapping them around kernels of truth. He's still doing it today. According to the Babylonian legends, then originating with Samaramus Tamuz who was further developed was killed and uh killed by a wild boar. [00:17:58]

In Genesis 11, unbelieving humanity is now prepared for anti-God legends and the deifying of mankind, and they fall hook, line, and sinker over the generations into the mystery religions of Babylon that are developing. At chapter 11's stage of time, John Walford provides this interesting summary, and I quote, "Nrod had a wife. Her name was Samaramus. She created secret religious rights of the Bab what would become the Babylonian mysteries according to extra biblical records. [00:16:50]

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